Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft

Used with Anne Madden Johnson's kind permission

Do not Fall for Phishing Scams

Don't click on links in emails or open attachments from people you don't know.
If you must follow a link given in an email, type it or copy and paste it into your browser. If it is a legitimate and secure site for inputting account information, it will have a yellow padlock in the lower right corner (the padlock may look different based on the browser you are using).

Disable file/print sharing: Open your wireless connection's Properties panel by going to Start, Settings and select Network Connections Inside the Network Connections window, right-click on one network connection and select Properties. and make sure that "Client for Microsoft Networks" and "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" are both unchecked.
Firewall your laptop using the Windows firewall plus a 2nd software firewall application.
Control your connection: It is risky practice to allow your laptop to automatically connect in a public hotspot. Regain control by opening your Wireless Network's Properties Panel (see Step 1), then the Wireless Networks tab, and then Advanced, and uncheck "Automatically connect to non-preferred networks" and check "Access point (infrastructure) networks only".
And if you have a Dell laptop, you can disable wireless temporarily by hitting the Function (Fn) key and the F2 key, toggling it off and on.

Configure Microsoft Update to automatically download and install the patches from Microsoft's website.